Crain's Events

Crain's Academy

Crain's Academy provides powerful and experiential professional development programming for the new workforce to senior leaders. Enroll in one of our offerings and be part of Crain's Academy Alumni community of over 250 professionals, representing 150 companies. For questions, please email crainsacademy@crain.com.

2018 Best Places to Work in Chicago Awards Luncheon

Crain’s will feature the Best Places to Work companies and unveil the top 100 ranked with acknowledgement from the podium for the top tier honorees at this invite only event. The event will include a networking reception, plated breakfast, unveiling by ranking for the top 100 finalists, and special recognition of the top tier honorees of this year’s Best Places to Work List.

General Counsel Breakfast

Exclusive to general or in-house counsel across a range of industries featuring peer-to-peer networking, panel discussion and audience Q&A, this event offers an opportunity for guests to hear from a panel of general counsel as they discuss their evolving role.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Middle Market Breakfast

ESG delivers a New Roadmap to Becoming Employer of Choice. In the war for talent, employee stakeholders are driving accountability for environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. ESG can be a powerful draw for millennials who prefer to work and buy from companies that share their values. Join us for our first annual discussion featuring corporate and private business who have created top places to work by instituting strategies to elevate and grow their workforce and brand, resulting in an increased ROI.

Small Business Forum

Part of Crain’s Small Business Week, this high-energy breakfast targets Chicago’s business community and top level management of small businesses and features a panel of Small Business CEO’s discussing their company growth and development.

Spring Real Estate Forum

This years theme will be tied to Crain’s Future of Chicago series where we examine and discuss forces plaguing our most challenged neighborhoods and look for solutions. Beyond the prosperity of Chicago’s sprawling central business district, many of the city’s neighborhoods are dying from a lack of economic development. The question is how to bring opportunity o these outlying areas. Once answer is to look at what’s worked here and at other large urban centers. The program may include a guest speaker along with a panel discussion focused on redevelopment projects that have made a difference in Chicago’s south and West sides, or those that show promise.

Chief Financial Officer Breakfast

Exclusive to chief and senior financial officers across a range of industries, this event features CFO leaders discussing timely and relevant issues they are facing and how they plan to overcome those issues.

Fast Fifty Awards Breakfast

Crain’s will invite Chicago’s business community, Fast Fifty alums, and honorees to unveil the ranking of the 2018 class. The Breakfast includes a conversation with select Fast Fifty company CEOs as they celebrate their achievement.

Middle Market Breakfast

CEO’s of mid-market companies will share their expertise on growth, innovation, challenges and lessons learned. This breakfast features a networking reception, plated breakfast, panel discussion, as well as audience Q&A.

40 Under 40 Breakfast

For 28 years, Crain’s Chicago Business’s 40 Under 40 list has tapped business and government leaders who’ve made an impact before their 40th birthday – a prescient list that has predicted the path of future Fortune 500 CEOs, serial entrepreneurs and big-time politicos. 40 Under 40 alumni entrepreneurs will share how they plan to win big before 2020 and reveal their bold next steps during this rapid-fire event followed by a moderated discussion.

Chief Information Officer Breakfast

Exclusive to CIOs, CISOs, CTOs, CROs, and senior IT leaders, this breakfast offers IT executives the opportunity to connect and collaborate on relevant and timely business technology issues and related risks. This event will offer collegial networking, a seated breakfast, a peer-to-peer panel discussion and audience Q&A.

Privately Held Companies Breakfast

Exclusive to owners, presidents and CEOs of Privately Held companies with revenues of $20 million or greater, Crain’s presents a series of conversations amongst CEOs from Crain’s 2018 Privately Held list. The event will feature coffee networking followed by CEO-to-CEO interviews and a moderated discussion.

Hospital CEO Breakfast

Crain’s Hospital CEO Breakfast is Crain’s largest event and the finale to the event calendar year. This breakfast offers a unique opportunity for healthcare professionals to network and enjoy an in-depth panel discussion amongst chief executives focusing on the dynamics of the Chicago healthcare market.